How Cycling Event Organizers Plan Routes

The San Diego Century Bike Tour is a 103-mile journey through everything that's beautiful about San Diego County.

The last several miles are along the Pacific coastline. After soaking in views of the ocean, riders reach a traffic light, where a left-hand turn goes directly to the finish line at MiraCosta College.

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The problem? After hours of riding, cyclists could see the finish 100 yards away. They have no interest in stopping at a red light, and for years they often didn't.

"Cyclists were not waiting. They were jumping the red," event director Jim Curl said. "They're going right through a red, which is green for oncoming traffic. I said 'This is only a matter of time...'"

Curl and the city of Encinitas agreed to make the traffic light a flashing red light for the day. He then put stop signs up at the intersection and even got assistance from police officers who barked on megaphones at cyclists to stop before making the left turn to the finish line.

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It's just one example of the logistics that organizers have to consider when putting together a road cycling event. In some cases, it's an ongoing project that takes into account factors like rider feedback, construction, safety concerns and more.

Here's a snapshot of what goes into planning an organized bike ride:

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Mapping the Route

The Chico Wildflower Century started in 1981 as an 85-mile ride through northern California's desert. There was a desire, though, to turn it into a century, but cramming 15 more miles into an established course that was otherwise great turned out to be tricky.

Organizers finally figured out how to add a loop that upped the distance to the magical 100 miles. Of course, it added a lot more climbing, but that was a small price to pay.

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In short, though, mapping out a ride often starts with a basic question—what are riders going to want? The answer is typically a lot of scenery and a little bit of climbing (but not too much).

Curl, a longtime cyclist, brainstormed all the rides he liked to do in the area, took them to a map and drew a rough draft of how the San Diego Century might look.

"I took friends out on proposed courses around the county after laying it out on a map to see roughly what the distances would be," Curl said. "I listened to what people told me. And I went back to the map and made changes, went out and rode it, drove it, made more changes."

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Offering Different Distances

While the 100-mile century ride is the ultimate goal for many cyclists, others have lesser milestones in mind. Many event organizers feel that to stay viable, multiple distances must be set up. That's why a lot of organized cycling events offer between three and five distances typically ranging from 10-100 miles.

But how do you offer several different distances without turning it into an insurmountable organizational task? The most logical way is to make them all part of one another, or as Curl calls it, to set it up "like a Russian doll."

Take the San Diego Century. It offers three distances: 37 miles, 66 miles and 103 miles. Since Curl wants every rider to see all the scenic landmarks that they planned for, it makes sense to put most of them in the 37-mile ride, then have all three distances do that route. After 37 miles, the 66- and 103-mile riders then veer off and do the next 29 miles of the ride. After that, the century riders veer off and do the last 37 miles.

What resulted was a course map that, when combined, was shaped like a shamrock.

Another advantage: if you put all three distances together to start, everyone can share the SAG stations, as well as other supporting factors like signage, volunteers and wrench support.

"You have to offer a range of distances, and the shamrock offers an efficient way to do that," Curl said. "If you do a separate course for each distance, that's a lot of ground to cover--a lot of SAG stations and signage and wrenches and safety people. As much as possible, you want it like a Russian doll, you want them to nest inside each other."

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Working With the Community

Event organizers often set up several meetings with city officials—in several cities, if the ride is long enough—to outline the event's planned route. Unlike running races, which typically require shutting down all the roads on the course, organized rides often take place on roads that remain open to traffic.

Police officers will give their opinion to race directors on whether a road is safe enough for cyclists or not, though as Curl noted, event directors should already have a good idea.

"The police are pretty cooperative if you do your homework," Curl said. "There are a few routes they won't recommend you do. But the police and county don't really want to get into telling you where to go. They don't want to be in an OK or not-OK position. That's not their jobs. They just want to make sure you know what you're doing."

Roads with bike lanes are ideal, but not always feasible. Mostly, organizers try to avoid routes that can potentially cause a safety hazard, such as a high-traffic road with no shoulder or a road with construction work ongoing.

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Support

Rides that are supported need to factor in variables like SAG stations, signage and volunteers along the route.

The typical rule of thumb is to have SAG stations set up around every 20 miles along the course, though that can vary. Bike the Coast, another San Diego-area event Curl manages, has stations every 12 miles since it's an out-and-back route.

As for signage? It may evolve as the years pass and issues come to the surface. Curl's anecdote about riders blowing through the stop light during the last 100 yards of the San Diego Century is one example. Typically, the more signage the better—there are a lot of places a cyclist can get lost during a long ride, even if they're holding a cue sheet.

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Adjusting

Mostly, it's important for event organizers to always be open to change. The course might work great one year, but factors beyond their control—new construction or increased traffic, for example—might make it less than ideal in the future. If so, it's back to the drawing board to tweak the route.

The bottom line? Event organizers have to play by the same rules the cyclists do—safety first.

"If you decide something makes sense, but it's not safe?" Curl said. "You don't do it."

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